Wine cellars aren’t only intended for connoisseurs, but it’s also becoming a home design trend nowadays. If you’re into wines and you have the space to spare, it’s good to have a cellar to ensure all your bottles are kept neatly in one place. Having a wine cellar also helps you organize your wines, so you know which ones must be consumed first.
Planning For Your Wine Cellar
Keeping your wines properly under optimal conditions is crucial in their aging process to ensure the quality is preserved. Here are some ideas to consider in designing your wine cellar:
- Pick The Right Location
The place of your wine cellar would depend on the available space you have at home. There are factors to consider in picking the right location such as the number of wine bottles you intend to store, the temperature and humidity level in the area, and the size you want to build. As much as possible, stay away from areas with too much light and air exposure.
One of the reasons why it’s quite a struggle for some homeowners to properly store their wine is because of a lack of space. Be resourceful in utilizing areas in your house like adding custom shelving, so there’d be no need to consume floor space.
If there’s no available room you can turn into a wine cellar, you may opt to use a pre-built one, so you’ll just have to consider the size depending on your need. To help you out with your storage solutions, consider buying at shops like Wine Cellar HQ and other reputable sources as they have different kinds of wine cellar suitable for the location you’ve allotted.
- Decide On The Style
Deciding on the style you want to achieve will be the basis of how you’ll design your wine cellar as it can either be traditional or modern. In a traditional wine cellar, you may think of wood in dark tones as the main material to give off a warm feeling. For the modern or contemporary-themed cellar, glass walls with metal wine racks are the usual combination to have cozy feels.
You may also incorporate both modern and traditional elements also known as the transitional style. Whatever your chosen approach, make sure not to sacrifice functionality. If you don’t have the budget to build your wine cellar from scratch, pre-built wine storage is a good option to consider.
- Consider The Critical Components
If you’ll be using a whole room, a basement, or an attic, it’s important to maintain a temperature-controlled environment with the right humidity level. It can be achieved through the use of insulation, vapor or moisture barrier, and airtight seal. Insulate the walls, floors, doors, and windows. If your wine cellar isn’t well insulated, you may have a hard time regulating the temperature, especially during the summer and winter seasons.
When the temperature isn’t regulated, there’s a possibility the humidity level may decrease or increase, so you need a moisture barrier to be installed outside the insulation system. You also need to ensure there’s no airflow leaving or entering the wine cellar by having an airtight sealing.
In designing a wine cellar, most people are focused on checking the temperature and humidity level, failing to take into account insect infestation. Ensuring your wine cellar is safe from insects is also an important thing to consider, especially most are notorious for eating their way through the wine corks. There are odorless insect repellants to eliminate this problem. You may also wrap each bottle with plastic for additional security.
- Find Appropriate Wine Cabinets
There are different kinds of wine cabinets and racks to choose from depending on the design you want to achieve and the space you have. You may have wall-mounted racks, hanging racks, countertop racks, or just ordinary shelves in a cabinet. The number of bottles you intend to store is usually the basis of the kind of wine racks to choose from.
As a rule of thumb, there should be at least 20-30% allotment of extra storage because there’s a tendency you’ll be adding more into your collections. Also, make sure the compartments could easily be optimized. Not all wines have the same sizes, so it’s ideal to have wine racks with a universal fitting. Just make sure the bottles are steadily in place to prevent vibrations.
- Consider Asking For Professional Help
In designing your wine cellar, one of the smart choices you can have is to work with experts. A professional wine cellar contractor is an expert in gathering the essential things you need to make sure your cellar is of high standards. A wine cellar isn’t like a kitchen cabinet wherein you’ll just need to ensure there are enough storage spaces. It has features specifically catering to wines alone.
There are some factors needed to be considered to have conducive storage for wines that can’t easily be achieved through doing personalized wine storage, so asking for professional assistance will help you save time. What’s good about hiring a contractor in designing your wine cellar is they’ll give you recommendations about the kind of cellar suitable for your space, budget, and storage needs.
Your contractor may also give you quotations beforehand, so you’d have an idea about the costs you’ll be spending before starting the project. You don’t have to go through the hassle of ensuring all external factors such as temperature, humidity level, and light exposure are met because the wine cellar contractor will be responsible for all of those.
Final Thoughts
Designing your wine cellar may seem to be an easy task, but there are a lot of factors to consider in ensuring your wine’s quality is preserved. You don’t have to be an expert to be able to build a cellar to safely keep your wine bottles, but you must be aware of the elements needed such as storage design, climate control, security, and the like.
Nonetheless, think about practicality and suitability as you make your decision. Consider the ideas mentioned here before designing your wine cellar.